Computer Gamer


Realm Of Impossibility
By Ariolasoft
Spectrum 48K

 
Published in Computer Gamer #12

Realm Of Impossibility

An arcade adventure originally written in the States back in 1983 for the C64, Realm Of Impossibility has, at long last, been converted to the Spectrum. To be perfectly honest I don't know why anybody bothered.

There are thirteen dungeons for you to chase round in search of a treasure which you must then return to your starting location. Assorted zombies, spiders, snakes and balls try to stop you but you can find scrolls en route which may heal you or give you a spell to cast.

You start off with a certain amount of energy and this decreases when you collide with monsters. Should it reach zero, you die. The spells that you can cast are freeze, confuse and protect which are fairly self-explanatory.

Realm Of Impossibility

The dungeons themselves are done in 3D, reminiscent of a poor version of Ant Attack, if you can remember that far back. There are ladders to be climbed and pits and rivers, etc. The dungeons don't scroll continuously, but when you move off the end of one screen everything shifts onto the next one.

So why the complaints of the first paragraph? Well, the graphics of the characters and monsters are abysmal. They are small, jerky and flickery, the sort of thing you find in beginners' books on how to program the Spectrum. They may have been ok back in 1983 but they don't half look dated now. Also some of the colour schemes are choice, such as light yellow zombies on a yellow background.

The game itself is easy to play. I zoomed through the first four dungeons very quickly and was halfway through the fifth when I got caught in the bottom right hand corner of one screen and the game hung up on me. I didn't need a second player to help me but might have done on one of the higher skill levels.

I cannot recommend Realm Of Impossibility. It might be OK as a budget game but it looks badly out of place and lacking sophistication when compared to other games of a similar nature.